Hong Kong's biliteracy and trilingualism is achievable by only 3% to 5% of people — this is a failed policy
Hong Kong clings to a language policy goal that only 3% to 5% of people can reach, while Singapore spent 50 years and three generations shifting from equal bilingualism to English dominance — at the cost of erasing dialects and suppressing the opposition.
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Only 3% to 5% of people meet the biliterate and trilingual standard
After looking into the data, Wong Yu-cheung found that Hong Kong upholds biliteracy and trilingualism, but only about 3% to 5% of people truly reach first-language proficiency in all four domains of listening, reading, speaking, and writing. Singaporean research arrived at the same figure. His judgment: if a policy goal is achievable by only 3% to 5% of people, it is essentially a failed policy, because policy must serve the majority. He also points out that when these language policies were formulated, no one had yet considered the later impact of STEM education on the economy, and students simply did not have enough time to allocate.
— Huang YuxiangAfter the handover, English-medium secondary schools dropped from 75% to 25%
Before the handover, English-medium secondary schools accounted for 75% and Chinese-medium schools 25%; parents and students believed learning English was the key to good jobs. At the start of the handover, the government wanted to promote mother-tongue teaching, but most schools were unhappy, and in 1999 a division was made between English-medium and Chinese-medium schools, completely reversing the ratio so that English-medium schools were only about 25%. In 2009 the government introduced fine-tuning of the medium of instruction, nominally breaking down barriers, but in reality English-medium schools offered only English courses while Chinese-medium schools kept offering English courses, and schools with good English results could convert entirely to English-medium. The result was that every Chinese-medium school's goal became to become an English-medium school.
— Huang YuxiangIn English-medium schools, teachers use Chinese to teach English textbooks
Wong Yu-cheung describes the real situation in Hong Kong's English-medium schools: the math textbook is in English, but the teacher teaches in Chinese because the teacher's own English is not good. He believes that mastering a language requires immersive education, but in this mixed state, students neither learn Putonghua well nor Cantonese well, and English is not learned well either. He gives the example that in Cantonese culture some English poetry and lyrics are quite good, and Cantonese opera has excellent Chinese, but students do not learn that either. He concludes this is a situation where everyone is dissatisfied: academics are unhappy that a lot of money was spent without achieving results, parents and students are unhappy that less English is learned, and schools are unhappy too.
— Huang YuxiangIf my Chinese and English were equal, I'd probably be a less sharp thinker
Wong Yu-cheung says that if his Chinese and English proficiency were equal, he would probably be a less sharp thinker. His explanation: as a student whose talent is not exceptionally high, the language he can grasp well is Chinese; English is a second language, which he can write and read but is weaker in speaking and listening. If he had spent all his time in secondary school pushing English very high, his secondary school performance might not have been as good, and he might not have been able to make Chinese writing his career. He uses this personal experience to reflect on Hong Kong: the government is insisting on an unattainable policy goal, and the adjustments are made so covertly that people leaving Hong Kong do not easily notice.
— Huang YuxiangSingapore took 50 years to go from equal bilingualism to English dominance
On the first day of self-government in 1959, Singapore wanted to become a country with English as the primary language, but in between it pursued a policy of equal bilingualism for 20 years, until the 1979 Goh Keng Swee Report formally established English as the main medium of instruction and mother tongue as auxiliary. From the decision in 1979 to implementation in 1987 took eight years. Wong Yu-cheung does the math: a student entering primary school in 1987 would graduate from secondary school 12 years later in 1999, and from university in the 2000s; from 1959 to the 2000s took 50 years and three generations. His conclusion is that the adaptation period for language policy adjustment is extremely long — one adjustment takes a generation of young people before results can be seen.
— Huang YuxiangSingapore eliminated dialects, at the cost of suppressing the opposition
Singapore encountered great resistance in promoting an English-dominant policy, because Chinese language and Mandarin were expressions of identity for the Nanyang Chinese community, and at the time the main movements resisting colonialism and fighting for social welfare were conducted in Chinese schools. Singapore had a Chinese-language university, Nanyang University, which was eventually shut down. Where Singapore was more radical than Hong Kong was in essentially eliminating dialects: dialect broadcasts were not allowed on public radio, and elderly people could not watch Hong Kong TV dramas. Wong Yu-cheung also mentions that in the 1960s Singapore had Operation Coldstore, which arrested all the opposition, after which there was no opposition, and labeled protectors of Chinese as Chinese chauvinists, shut down newspapers, and linked them to socialists.
— Huang YuxiangLee Kuan Yew learned six and a half languages, but only English at native level
In his memoirs, Lee Kuan Yew wrote that he learned six and a half languages in his lifetime: his mother tongue was English, he learned Chinese and Mandarin as a child, Japanese during the Japanese occupation, Hokkien and Hakka because of elections, and Malay in secondary school. Wong Yu-cheung points out that even someone as talented as Lee Kuan Yew found it difficult to learn so many languages, and for an ordinary person learning so many, the ultimate productivity is questionable. Of Lee Kuan Yew's six languages, only English reached first-language level; his Chinese was passable — he could write a little and give speeches but was not very fluent. Lee Hsien Loong's Chinese is better because Lee Kuan Yew made an effort to send his children to Chinese-medium primary schools when they were young, and only to English-medium schools for secondary; but Lee Hsien Loong's younger brother and sister, Lee Wei Ling and Lee Hsien Yang, are basically English-dominant, and only Lee Hsien Loong in the whole family can use both Chinese and English proficiently.
— Huang YuxiangIn Hong Kong, the better the student, the less logical their learning
Wong Yu-cheung points out that Singapore has Special Assistance Plan schools — 14 former Chinese-medium schools that allow good students to learn more Chinese, because their first language is already English, so good students have more obligation to learn more. Hong Kong is the opposite: good students go to English-medium schools and learn more English — the logic is wrong. Hong Kong's problem is that the better students' learning is more logical, and the worse students' learning is less logical, which makes it hard not to be angry, and they get worse and worse. He also says that 30% of students at Hong Kong's top universities have no problem speaking and writing English, while the worst 20% of students cannot even speak Putonghua well — they are new immigrants who cannot learn English. Singapore's approach is to have the worst 20% of students learn Chinese, because at least they can communicate and it has economic value.
— Huang YuxiangAll Hong Kong top scorers go into medicine; no one studies law or finance
Wong Yu-cheung observes the change in Hong Kong top scorers' choice of major: when he entered university, some studied law, some global business, some medicine — relatively diverse — and previously some studied IT. But what he sees now is that all go into medicine, not a single one studying law or finance. His explanation: finance is competitive and relies on connections; medicine basically does not rely on connections, and the starting salary upon graduation is over HK$60,000. Studying law requires passing a professional exam, and only about half pass; solicitors are fine, but barristers earn very little in the first few years, and with no major economic growth in Hong Kong, the litigation pie has already been divided among the famous barristers of the past, and getting good resources depends on connections.
— Huang YuxiangHong Kong people have an illusion of omnipotence
Wong Yu-cheung believes the most valuable thing Hong Kong can learn from Singapore is the mindset: thinking very realistically. Lee Kuan Yew often said Singapore is just a city of five or six million people, with no right to choose what to believe — it can only choose what to do to cater to the world's needs. Because Hong Kong's economy once accounted for 25% to 30% of China's in the 1980s, Hong Kong people developed an illusion that they were extraordinary and omnipotent; now it is just back to normal. He says that in the past, what the Hong Kong government had to do was adjust to changing circumstances — when the Korean War broke out and an embargo was imposed, it shifted to industry; when China opened up, it shifted to services — without having to think about what to do itself. But now the situation is that the natural advantages have been mostly consumed, and visionary planning is needed.
— Huang YuxiangIn their own words · checked verbatim
In the end I found that roughly 3% to 5% of people could grasp it.
我到最后我发现大概是百分之三到五的人 能够把握得到
Huang Yuxiang1:00
If my Chinese and English proficiency were equal, then I would probably be a less sharp thinker.
如果我中文英文的程度 是相等的话 那么我大概应该是一个 思考不太灵光的人
Huang Yuxiang13:04
Once he makes an adjustment, a generation of young people has already passed before you can see the results.
他一调整 就算是一代年轻人 就过去了 你才能看到结果
Huang Yuxiang19:08
The better the student, the more logical their learning; the worse the student, the less logical their learning — that makes it hard not to be angry.
你越好的学生 他学习是更符合逻辑的 他的学生学习更加不符合逻辑 那就很难不让人生气了
Huang Yuxiang33:22
All go to be doctors, all doctors, yes, all go into medicine, not a single one studying law or finance.
全部都去做医生 全部做医生 对 全部都去读医科 连一个去学法律 学金融的都没有
Huang Yuxiang46:38
We have no right to choose what we believe; we can only choose what we do to cater to the world's needs.
我们没有资格去选择 我们相信什么 我们只能够选择我们去做什么 去迎合这个世界的需要
Huang Yuxiang55:46
Figures
| Proportion meeting Hong Kong's biliterate and trilingual standard | 3% to 5% | 1:00 |
| Proportion meeting Singapore's bilingual standard | 3% to 5% | 14:05 |
| Share of English-medium secondary schools in Hong Kong before the handover | 75% | 6:03 |
| Share of English-medium secondary schools in Hong Kong after the handover | about 25% | 11:03 |
| Transition period in Singapore from equal bilingualism to English dominance | 1959 to the 2000s, about 50 years, three generations | 19:08 |
| Number of Singapore Special Assistance Plan schools | 14 former Chinese-medium schools | 33:22 |
| Starting salary of Hong Kong medical graduates | over HK$60,000 | 46:38 |
| Pass rate of Hong Kong law professional exam | about half | 47:38 |
| Hong Kong's share of China's economy (1980s) | 25% to 30% | 55:46 |
Glossary
- Biliteracy and trilingualism
- Hong Kong's medium-of-instruction policy, referring to two written languages, Chinese and English, and three spoken languages: Cantonese, Putonghua, and English.
- Fine-tuning of the medium of instruction
- A 2009 Hong Kong government policy that nominally broke down the barrier between Chinese- and English-medium schools but in practice allowed English-medium schools to offer only English courses.
- Goh Keng Swee Report
- A 1979 Singaporean report that formally established English as the main medium of instruction and mother tongue as an auxiliary medium.
- Special Assistance Plan schools
- 14 former Chinese-medium schools in Singapore that, because their first language is already English, can let good students learn more Chinese.
- Barrister
- A type of legal profession in Hong Kong; barristers earn very little in the first few years and may not become famous.
- Liberal studies
- A compulsory Hong Kong senior secondary subject that Wong Yu-cheung calls an introduction to sociology, covering today's China, Hong Kong, globalization, and more.
How to listen
Founders, investors, and policy researchers interested in Hong Kong's education policy, language politics, and youth predicament — especially those tracking Greater Bay Area talent flows and Hong Kong's industrial positioning.
From 48:24 to 54:45, the discussion of personal learning experiences and Hong Kong secondary school subject selection details has low information density and can be skipped.